Stephenson Tales

Peppy

Peppy was Foxy Liza's pal. He was a mixed breed - aren't they all? We used to have our dock at the foot of the slope to the left of the front of the house, just beside the front of Secord's lot. But when Feeshin' Bob bought the space and put out a dock, ours was too close to his, so we moved it over so it is directly below our front door. The first time we came up after school, and before we had had time to put out any dock at all in the new space, Peppy and Liza ran down the steps intending to race out to the end of the dock. Much to their astonishment, they found themselves in the lake!

Peppy was terrified of thunder, and when the atmospheric pressure would start to drop he would dash upstairs and crawl under our bed until the storm passed. In his last year, he got too chubby to get under the bed, so he crawled under the table in the corner of the living room and lay there shaking all over.

Peppy died the summer after Liza did, and I buried him in our lot next to the State Park fence.

Robin's note: Foxy Liza died while on a visit to Florida with the family and she was buried, with much emotion, in my yard with so many of my other pets. Peppy stayed in Florida with me while Mom and Dad continued their travels. It was great fun having him here and watching him race around the yard with my Yorkies, he looked like a giant alongside them.

Composed 2 November 2008; Transcribed by Lucky

Note from Toni: Liza had already firmly established her place as Alpha dog when Peppy joined the family. He loved her, but gave in to her will in any circumstance. Robbie and I used to feed the two dogs, each with their own dish. Liza used to guard the bowls and not let Peppy eat. The bowls were on opposite sides of the house and she would lie somewhere in the middle and listen for Peppy's hesitant footsteps. As soon as she heard him, she would run at him ready to attack! Peppy would just stand there looking pitiful and hungry until we came to his rescue. One time we were out in the front yard at the Kent house, a big shepherd started chasing after Peppy who hightailed back toward the house. Liza, less than half the size of the shepherd, came barrelling out after the shepherd and chased him off. It was obvious that she was the only one allowed to beat up on Peppy.